NEWS

2015/07

[Film]

“Monster Hunt” Released to be a Blockbuster in China

First ever family-oriented fantasy film in China, with cute monsters as main characters. Boasting really good quality in CG, I believe this film has become an entertainment which will be welcomed worldwide. Hope it will be released in your country and my country, Japan as well. — Yohei Taneda

“Monster Hunt”, a fortunate marriage of animation and live-action, was released in China on the 16th July and quickly made a huge success as a Summer blockbuster in China.

This is the directorial debut of Raman Hui, who worked with DreamWorks for long to make animation films as animator staff as well as director, including ‘Shrek’ series.

Under the wing of Bill Kong, an established producer famous for producing films like “Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon” , “HERO”, “LOVERS”, international cast and staff assembled together in this Chinese epic. Yohei Taneda was called from Japan to join them as a Production Designer, to create the world of ancient China, where monsters dwell in.

On the strength of Hui’s experiences as animation director, monsters are manifested cute and attractive, and especially ‘Wuba’, a baby monster to become a King, has already gained much popularity.

2015/01

[Film]

The Hateful Eight, Shooting will get started

A Happy New Year!
Wishes for the New Year from Telluride, Colorado.

Quentin Tarantino’s new film, The Hateful Eight – we have been preparing for the project since the last autumn, and now equipment arrives, actors are all here at the set, which we created in the high mountains at an altitude above 3000 meters.
So here we go, the shooting on the site is going to kick off.

At the beginning of the last year I was in the midst of struggling to create Hokkaido in summer, for Studio Ghibli animation film.
Quite in contrast, this year I’m here in the snow, at the sub-zero temperatures, creating totally different world.

The film is due to be released this coming autumn in the States.
I hope all the film fans around the world, including of course QT fans, will go to see this film in the theater, and I’m so excited in anticipation of it.

2014/10

[Book]

THE LEGEND of Production Designers × Yohei Taneda

Alexandre Trauner, a great master of the film arts, once said; “Film sets are not about architectures, but lights.” What he meant was “lightings are what make a set emerged and look alive in a film.” Now I want to paraphrase it; “A film art itself sheds light; it breathes by itself.” —— Yohei TANEDA; THE LEGEND of Production Designers × Yohei Taneda , Prologue

Brilliant works by the production designers, who left their names on the film history; artistic skills, philosophies, essence of film production designs, handed down through unbroken chains from the Golden Age of Japanese Films to this day.

This book is developed from interviews by Yohei Taneda with various Japanese production designers, which originally appeared in a monthly magazine “Kinema Jun-Po” in the period of 2006 – 2007. Upon the publication, it was edited with additional texts, coupled with more interviews apart from his monthly series. After concluding the series, Taneda interviewed Isao Takahata, one of the great directors n the sphere of animation film, known for Kaguyahime no monogatari, Omohide poro poro and Hotaru no haka with Studio Ghibuli, who discussed the art of anime with Taneda.

Other featured production designers are those whom the legendary designers themselves look up as their mentors. Consequently, this book has become a complete guide to the history of film production art in Japan.

Additionally, Taneda talks to another prominent figure, Dante Ferretti, one of the leading production designers. Here Dante explains about his works with the great directors from Italy, as well as those in the Hollywood.

2013/08

[Exhibition]

Yohei Taneda EXHIBITION Featuring the World of Koki Mitani’s Fiims : retracing the Production Designs up to Kiyosu Kaigi, and …

Production design is to create the worldview of a film, in other words, to create the ‘fake space’. One of the important tasks in the production design is to make the sets out of that space, to give the reality to the story evolving in the film. Koki Mitani, he is one of directors who respects and embraces the film sets we create for the stories.
It’s my great pleasure to have this opportunity, to show the audiences ‘production designs co-starring with the actors’ – peculiarity of Mitani’s films in the CG governed time – together with my works I have done for the films overseas.
– Yohei Taneda

Yohei Taneda has worked as production designer with Koki Mitani, for his directed films “The Ucho-ten Hotel”, “The Magic Hour”, “Suteki na Kana-shibari”, and his new film “Kiyosu Kaigi” (to be released on November 9th).
This autumn, an exhibition is to be given at The Ueno Royal Museum, to show Mitani’s films’ distinctive worldview, along with the crafts of production designs that bring the world into a reality.

Labyrinth-like Hotel Avanti, the Paradise Street in Sukago City – ‘it’s like a film set’, says one of the characters in a whisper -, a courtroom where a ghost is called for as a witness, and 16th century’s castle ‘Kiyosu-jo’, where the ‘battle of war’ under the name of ‘congress’ is staged upon……besides those main sets, all those production designs items by the hands of Yohei Taneda – various kinds of sets and spatial designs both indoors and outdoors, to consist the whole cities and villages; graphic designs such as titles and credit titles, opening-title credits; decorations, properties, DVD packages – his works have been the great source both in producing the Mitani films’ world and in supporting his stories.

You will enjoy this special opportunity to feel and experience once again the wide variety and fun Mitani’s films give us, through the displays of the models, decorations and props actually used in the filming, and the documents collected in preparation of the set, added to them, the sets specially re-assembled for this occasion..

Also, here you can see more of Taneda’s works, his grand designs producing huge sets and cities and villages used in his collaborated films overseas, namely, ” Kill Bill Vol.1 ” (Quentin Tarantino), “Warriors of the Rainbow” (Wei Te-Sheng), “The Flowers of War” (Zhang Yimou) and “Man of Tai Chi” (Keanu Reeves).

Film Arts Co-starring With Actors – enjoy this special occasion at the museum this autumn.

2013/07

[Film]

Man of Tai Chi 太極侠, Keanu Reeves’s directorial debut film, to be released on July 5th in China

Keanu Reeves becomes just like a boy as he talks about ideas on a film – being so innocent, honest, and earnest. But once he began to film his first – ever endeavor as a director, he turned serious. His eyes were also stern when he looked at the performers. It should be natural for a man who has been leading his life as an actor, for more than 30 years. I felt he got more nervous when acted as well.

I heard Bernardo Bertolucci once told Keanu had ‘impossible innocence’ in him when the director chose him as a lead, Buddha in “Little Buddha”. I found him just the same, even as a director, he was surely, totally, innocent. I spent a year working with him, feeling to embrace that innocence closely.

The film, “Man of Tai Chi” is going to be released finally. The set I made up was meant to be ‘a place for a fight’, which I had not worked upon for a long time, since KILL BILL Vol.1. I’m looking forward to the film’s release. ———Yohei Taneda

Keanu Reaves, one of those world-famous actors, made his directorial debut with “Man of Tai Chi”, a film based upon his own project. And this will be shown, first in China, followed by the winter premier in the US.

Called up are, action director Yuen Woo Ping, who created those vivid scenes of action through “The Matrix “ series, his disciple Tiger Chen playing the leading character, as well as director of photography Elliot Davis ( “Twilight” ) from Hollywood, and Yohei Taneda, production designer from Japan. Their collaboration resulted in this great entertainment action film, after spending more than a year for preparation, filming and finish-up.

In Beijing, where the good old days being cast away as the city keeps on hurtling, Chen’s character seeks to learn and uphold a traditional martial arts, Tai-chi, while he tries to live his life according to teachings Tai-chi imparts to them. He comes to face a cold-blooded man (Keanu Reeves) , who secretly organizes fight matches, without a sense of guilt in breaking a law, even though he behaves like a rightous man of business. Depicting the battle between the two, Reeves presents us a question, about the importance of a ballance between tradtion and progress, as well as difficlties to keep that balance.

Filmed in Beijing and Hong-Kong, joined by people from a vast variety of countries as US, China, Hong-Kong, Japan, Australia, and so on. Ahead of its release in Japan, you can enjoy the film in China, or in America.

2013/05

[Commercial Film]

ASAHI SUPER DRY, ‘CRANK UP’, the episode now shown on TV in Japan

When I got the offer about this commercial film, I was in Beijing and the director John Woo was in Los Angeles. So we talked by the phone to discuss. “To depict the color of beer I want to capture the evening in Thailand, in the image of glowing gold; I’d like you to build the set of a market to fit the atmosphere”; that was his request.

Though most Thai stalls are colored in blue or red, to reflect the evening sun I decided to defy the fact and build up a market in yellow shades, using transparent fabrics in yellow brown and yellow ocher for the stall awnings. Mauro Fiore, director of photography who flew there from Hollywood, arranged to let the rays of light seeping into these yellow shades, so as to get the color even more tender and warmer.

John Woo looked rather nervous, as he hadn’t filmed for quite long. “Telling you the truth, this is my first CM to direct,” he told me in whisper, “while I’ve filmed more than 40 movies…”

It means he appointed me as a production designer to work for his first commercial film –it’s such honor to me.———Yohei Taneda

ASAHI SUPER DRY, ‘CRANK UP’, the episode now shown on TV in Japan, depicts Masaharu Fukuyama, the leading character through the series, to reach the “crank up” (completion of filming) moment of an imaginary action film in the set of the market.

Filmed in Bangkok, Thailand, the CF was directed by a renowned film-maker John Woo, who first became famous in Hong Kong for his works like “A Better Tomorrow” series, followed by the huge success with “Face Off”, “M:I-2″, and “Red Cliff part1&part2″, films he made in response to the call from Hollywood.

You can enjoy the film on ASAHI MOVIE CHANNEL as well. John Woo is featured as himself, with his zeal performance. The commercial film is full of the enthusiasm and tension just like you would feel at the real filming set.

2013/04

[Film]

Taiwaniese film “Warriors of the Rainbow ; Seediq Bale” will open in Japan on the 20th April

We have the image that Taiwan is the island with plenty of sunlight. but actually Taiwan is the island with high mountains and deep woods. In these mountains, I and Japanese art department built the Japanese town, Mushe and the Taiwanese aboriginal village Mahebo , where the Sediq people lived during the period that Japan ruled Taiwan in the beginning of 20 century. The task to create the world supporting the dram of the violent clash of two different cultures and religions took an enormous amount of time and energy. With the director and Taiwanese people we completed this task. I am very glad that this movie will be seen by Japanese people at last. ———Yohei Taneda

This Taiwanese film “Warriors of the Rainbow ; Seediq Bale” that Yohei Taneda worked on as Production Designer will be in theaters in Japan on the 20th April.

This film is an epic story of the indigenous tribes who fought off their Japanese oppressors in the early 1930s. with tragic result. The director Wei Te-sheng spent years planning and developing this project. The shooting was started in the autumn of 2009 and finished the autumn of 2010.He should have raised the funds sometimes during the shooting. Actors and actress come from the aboriginal people, actors from Japan, Taiwanese crew and crew from Japan, Hong Kong and Korea shared a sense of mission with the director who controlled everything. We can see the director’s great talent, passion and power on the screen in the theatre.

In Taiwan this movie broke box office record which the director himself made with his first full-length feature “Cape No.7″ and became Taiwanese people’s movie in 2011.
In Japan, we can see 2 volumes, part 1, The Flag of Sun and part 2, The Bridge of the Rainbow, that is, Taiwan original version. The movie is an excellent action entertainment with international high opinions. Please enjoy this movie in the theatre.

2012/11

[Publication]

FilmCraft : Production Design

The FilmCraft is a ground-breaking study of the art of filmmaking – the most collaborative and multidisciplinary of all the arts, each volume covers a different aspect of moviemaking. Latest title “FilmCraft : Production Design” written by Fionnuala Halligan has been published in the UK by Ilex Press and in the US by Focal Pres. Yohei Taneda offered to be interviewed with famed production designers, such as Ken Adam, Stuart Craig and Dante Ferretti. His illustrations, photos, miniatures and many other artworks for production design on the past are shown in the book.

2012/11

[Others]

Redesigned a wedding hall “Toyonoakari”, Nogikaikan

Yohei Taneda redesigned a wedding hall “ Toyonoakari” at a wedding center Nogikaikan, Tokyo in Japan.
It’s shown Meiji and Taisho period modernism to have Japanese taste with Art Deco style decoration. Four walls are presented four seasons, depicted Japanese typical trees and flowers dynamically and characteristically. You can feel Japanese spirit combined with Western learning in modern-day.

2012/10

[Exhibition]

Yohei Taneda Exhibition “CINEMA ARTS” in Taiwan, is held in Taipei city

Yohei Tabeda Exhibition “CINEMA ARTS” was held in Kaohsiung City in 2012 and Songshan Cultural Park in Taipei city will be followed this time. It is Taiwanese version of “The Secret World of Arrietty and Yohei Taneda” exhibition that was held at Museum of Contemporary Art Tokyo in 2010. After that, it went on a tour to Matsuyama city, Kobe city and Nagaoka city, more than 700,000 people had come and viewed. Yohei Taneda’s production designs from early works such as “Swallowtail Butterfly”, “Sleepless Town” and “KILL BILL Vol.1″ through the latest work “Man of Tai Chi” directed by Keanu Reeves, and also Arrietty’s Room, set up the world from the feature-length animated film “The Secret World of Arrietty” will be appeared.

2012/10

[Exhibition]

Yohei Taneda Exhibition “Petit Louvre” in Taiwan, is held in Taipei city

“Petit Louvre” exhibition at Ghibli Museum, Mitaka in 2008 and at Musee d’art Mercian KARUIZAWA in 2010 were well-received, and its Taiwanese version was held at Kaohsiung City in Jun. 2012. National Museum of History in Taipei City will be followed this time. It will be shown Yohei Taneda’s works besides production designs.

2012/09

[Film]

Chinese film “The Assassins” will open in China on Sep. 26th

Chinese film “The Assassins” that Yohei Taneda worked on as Production Designer will be in theaters in China on Sep. 26th, in Hong Kong and Singapore on Sep. 27th. This film is set in the Three Kingdoms period of Chinese history, the story focuses on Cao Cao in his old age, exploring the areas of military tactics, love, and the relationship between father and son. A brilliant director, Linshan Zhao who has been active in Commercial Film field directed this magnificent story.

2012/06

[TV Program]

Renewal set for “The Cambrian Palace”

The first air in 2006 through Jun. 21st in 2012, Ryu Murakami had interviewed many Japanese economic leaders. They were invited to the set that is like illusionism of ruins, designed by Yohei Taneda. The renewal set will be shown on Jun. 28th. It’s drawn on the concept of future and a space with brilliant light.

2012/06

[Exhibition]

Yohei Taneda Exhibition “CINEMA ARTS” in Taiwan, is held in Kaohsiung city

Yohei Tabeda Exhibition “CINEMA ARTS” will be held at Kaohsiung City Arts Zone. This is the Taiwanese version of “The Secret World of Arrietty and Yohei Taneda” exhibition that was held at Museum of Contemporary Art Tokyo in 2010. After that, it went on a tour to Matsuyama city, Kobe city and Nagaoka city, more than 700,000 people had come and viewed. This time, Yohei Taneda’s production designs from early works such as “Swallowtail Butterfly”, “Sleepless Town” and “KILL BILL Vol.1″ through the latest work “Man of Tai Chi” directed by Keanu Reeves, and also Arrietty’s Room, set up the world from the feature-length animated film “The Secret World of Arrietty” will be appeared.

2012/06

[Exhibition]

Yohei Taneda Exhibition “Petit Louvre” in Taiwan, is held in Kaohsiung city

“Petit Louvre” exhibition at Ghibli Museum, Mitaka in 2008 and at Musee d’art Mercian KARUIZAWA in 2010 were well-received, and this time, its Taiwanese version will be held at Kaohsiung City Arts Zone. It will be shown Yohei Taneda’s works besides production designs.

2012/03

[Graphic]

“A Ghost of a Chance” Blu-ray and DVD, Special Edition will be released on May. 25th 2012.

A film “A Ghost of a Chance” that Yohei Taneda worked on as a Production Designer, its Blu-ray and DVD as a set of 3 disks with special features will be released on May. 25th 2012. He also designed the package, too.

“A Ghost of a Chance”（Director：Kohki Mitani）
Blu-ray / DVD Special Edition
This title will be released on May. 25th 2012 in Japan. Pre-order available, please visit the websites below.

2012/03

[Publication]

An essay “Sai・Bi・Fu” on the evening newspaper column, serials in 4 installments.

Yohei Taneda has been working as a Production Designer from Japan, on Chinese film and Taiwanese film since 2010. He put his thoughts about the experiences into an essay. This will be on the evening newspaper column “Sai・Bi・Fu” on every Wednesday, from Asahi Shimbun to serial in 4 installments in Japan.

2012/03

[Graphic]

A new opening title sequence for Nihon Eiga Senmon Channel

A new opening title sequence for the program on Nihon Eiga Senmon Channel (the program for Japanese films / Nihon Eiga Satellite Broadcasting Corp.) of which Yohei Taneda handled the conceptual design will be on the air from Mar. 3rd..

This “Cine-port town” has a studio and many ships from foreign
countries come toward. There are both of the latest cinema complex
and good old drive-in-theater.
I wanted to create the cinema-town for adults who attracted cinema
in their past. I’d like to people who loved cinema, has loved cinema
always, to come to this town. Yohei Taneda

2012/02

[Graphic]

All You Need Is Love

Yohei Taneda created an illustration for the charity single CD “All You Need Is Love” that will be released on Mar. 7th.
Ryuichi Sakamoto and Takeshi Kobayashi took a pivotal role, launched a project ＜JAPAN UNITED with MUSIC＞ to support Japan Earthquick 2011. 30 artists approved the project and joined for free. They covered a song “All You Need Is Love” by The Beatles and will make a donation all profits for foundations related with “children”.

2012/02

[Film]

The Flowers of War ; Jing Ling Shi San Chai

“The Flowers of War ; Jing Ling Shi San Chai”, on which Yohei Taneda worked as production designer, has been released all over China and has made fantastic success in box office. The film will begin showing in over 70 countries including USA.
The film has been nominated for Best Foreign Language Film in 69th Golden Glove Awards.